Bar guns are typically comprised of a handle having a multiplicity of buttons thereon and a nozzle situated typically perpendicular to the handle, for dispensing a pre-selected fluid. Bar guns are well-known in the art. Nozzles of bar guns are typically cylindrical and are attached at a near end to the handle and have a fluid dispensing opening at a removed end thereof.
It is known in the art to provide a holster for engaging a bar gun, typically for encircling the nozzle of a bar gun, when the bar gun is not in use. The use of a holster, with a nozzle opening dimensioned slightly larger than the nozzle of a typical bar gun, allows the bar gun user to “holster” or place the bar gun in a non-use position, in much the same way the holster of a handgun will engage at least a portion of the barrel and leave the handle exposed, for use by the wearer.
Unlike handgun holsters, however, bar gun holsters are typically mounted to a rigid support surface, such as a sink, table or underside of a bar. Typical prior art bar gun holders include a mounting plate for engaging screws, which screws would be threaded into the underside of a support surface, and typically include a surround portion or bar gun nozzle receiving portion which extends laterally spaced away from the underside of the support surface.
Typical bar gun holsters may also include a pan portion spaced apart from the surround or nozzle opening portion, which pan member is designed to receive liquids that may drip off the end of the bar gun nozzle. That is to say, when a bartender is finished dispensing a drink, they will typically holster the nozzle of the bar gun and, even though the bartender may have finished dispensing the drink, there may still be fluid dripping from the nozzle. When the bar gun is holstered, the fluid may leak into the pan.
Bar gun holsters have included removable drain portions, separate from the mounting plate, for ease of washing and clean-up. These drain portions may include a lower drain opening and an upper perimeter. A drain hose is in fluid communication with the drain portion for carrying away waste fluid in a drain line.
Among advantages of Applicants' novel holster assembly set forth herein is the ability to maintain the bar gun nozzle tip sufficiently spaced apart from a base or bottom of a drain pan so as to prevent contamination of the removed end of the nozzle by fluid accumulating in the pan of the holster assembly.
Another advantage of Applicants' novel holster assembly is structure to adapt a large drain tube thereto, typically ½ inch ID or greater, which helps prevent backup into the pan of the assembly.
Another advantage of Applicants' novel holster assembly is a multi-piece assembly that toollessly and removably couples to a support base or mounting plate, allowing the portions of the holster assembly that may be contaminated, to be easily removed from the mounting plate and washed, even while the drain hose remains attached to an uncontaminated portion of the assembly.
Applicants further provide a holster assembly for a bar gun having a holster portion for receiving a nozzle of a bar gun, with a gap or space between the nozzle and the bar at the nozzle receiving member.
That is to say, Applicants provide a novel holster assembly that largely avoids contamination of a nozzle and a holster assembly that may be toollessly removed from the mounting plate for easy washing.
While prior art holsters have certain advantages, Applicants provide these advantages with other advantages in a novel bar gun assembly.